


Parahumans 1/2

by Orwellington



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow, Ranma 1/2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24705763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orwellington/pseuds/Orwellington
Summary: Ranma spends his youth training to become more than just the greatest martial artist of his generation.  AU fusion with Worm starting in Japan’s golden age of capes in the time before Leviathan.
Kudos: 10





	1. Foundation 1.1

Foundation 1.1

Saturday, September 5th 1987

Saotome Genma, 23 year old ex convict and martial artist extraordinaire, was currently not feeling very extraordinary. Although his master Happosai had taught him the value of looking out for number one above all else and not to let feelings distract him from his goals, he couldn't help the anxiety weighing him down as he stood outside the gate of Nodoka's residence with a finger poised just centimeters from touching the doorbell. He'd been standing like that for nearly ten minutes without making a move as he contemplated just running away.

He wouldn't even have come here if not for his former high school sweetheart mailing him out of the blue to tell him he had a son. After she refused to elope with him, she'd gone ahead with the arranged marriage her family had planned for her and left him utterly heartbroken. She was the reason he'd kind of gone off the deep end, got mixed up in cape crime and wound up in jail. Now, just as he was still relatively fresh out of the pen and trying to sort his life out, she drops a bomb on him like this.

Typical Nodoka.

Their last night together, which was roughly six years ago, had been their first time but was still apparently enough to get her pregnant. According to her, she'd tried to pass the boy off as her husband's after she'd learned Genma had gone to jail but, recently, the man had learned the truth and threatened to leave her with nothing if she didn't get rid of the reminder that she hadn't been a virgin when they'd consummated their marriage.

Genma had always blamed her for being greedy and going for the guy from a wealthy family instead of being brave enough to follow her heart. Just because he himself wasn't somebody rich or important didn't mean he wouldn't have done everything in his power to give her the world. Despite not seeing himself as ideal father material, he couldn't leave the boy with a woman that would choose that bastard of a husband over her own son or said husband who seemed to think it was okay to kick a five year old to the curb.

_'The dude's even more of a shit-bag than I am,'_ Genma thought.

With his nerves steeled, he pushed the button and waited for the next stage of his life to begin.

A few minutes passed before he heard footsteps along with the distinct sniffling and hiccuping of an upset child approach the gate. The ornate stained wood swung inward and revealed Nodoka, as beautiful as ever in a floral kimono that likely cost more than he made in a month, standing behind and with her hands on both shoulders of a long haired little boy with a red Sentai Elite t-shirt, backpack, matching shorts and velcro sneakers.

Genma was surprised to see that she was shedding as much tears as her son and looked to be barely keeping it together. The tirade he'd been planning to unleash on her died on his tongue when she broke down into a sob and knelt down to give the boy a fierce hug.

“I love you so much, Ranma,” she said between fits of sobbing as she rubbed the boy's back. “This is only temporary, okay? I promise you that I'll find a way to bring you home as soon as possible.”

“I don' wanna go!” Ranma wailed into the front of his mother's kimono. “Whatever I did ta make daddy mad, I didn' mean it! I tried ta tell him sorry but he won' listen! Please tell him!”

Nodoka broke their embrace so she could look at the boy. Even as tears continued to fall, she spoke firmly. “You did nothing wrong, you hear me? You're my sweet, brave and special little man who deserves so much better.”

Genma cleared his throat, glaring intentionally at her as she consoled the boy she was responsible for upsetting in the first place.

She took the hint and rubbed a thumb over Ranma's tears before kissing his forehead. “Ranma, this nice man is Genma; an _old friend_ of mine. He's going to take good care of you while I sort everything out at home.”

Ranma sniffled some more before turning his way. The fearful expression he wore made Genma cringe on the inside and realize that wearing his gi for this might not have been the best idea. He'd entertained a silly notion that he might get the chance to stare Nodoka's husband down and make the guy wet himself by sheer intimidation alone. Obviously that wasn't going to happen. He took a knee in an effort to appear less threatening and noted that she'd avoided revealing his true identity to their son. It was probably for the best that something that big be saved for a time when the boy was more equipped to handle it.

“Hey there,” he said, putting on a forced smile as he waved. “That's a cool shirt ya got there, little man. You a fan of the Sentai?” he asked, already knowing the obvious answer.

Ranma nodded slowly. “Mhm.”

“Well, it just so happens that I've met one or two of them in person,” Genma said, quietly leaving out the fact that it had been when they were arresting him. Still, it counted.

“Really?” the boy asked, his woe noticeably decreasing as his eyes lit up with wonder.

“Sure did. Even got to ride inside a mecha.” True again but it had actually been just so they could cart him off to the police station for booking.

“That's so cool!” Ranma said, perking up significantly. “Are you a superhero too? I promise I can keep a secret if ya are,” he added in a stage whisper.

Genma shook his head, disguising the guilt he felt for getting the kid's hopes up behind another smile. “No, but I _am_ a martial artist.”

“Oh...” Ranma replied, deflating with obvious disappointment.

“Hey now... don't be like that,” Genma said, pretending to be more hurt than he actually was. “Martial artists are just as good as, if not better than, superheroes in a lot of ways. With the right kind of training, we can do a lot of the same cool stuff they can.”

Ranma looked dubious until his mother chimed in.

“Its true, kiddo. Genma is an amazing martial artist. As a matter of fact, I bet if you trained with him he'd help you become strong enough to be leader of the entire Sentai Elite one day. Heck, you might even get to save the world,” she said, hamming it up. “How does that sound?”

Genma caught the grateful smile she sent his way and found himself struggling to tamp down on the feeling of butterflies in his stomach that she still somehow was able to induce.

This wasn't entirely the grim sad-fest that he was expecting when he'd come here. Something just didn't add up with her. She had all the hallmarks of a doting mother who loved her son to death so why was she going through with all of this? Saving a marriage with some douchebag couldn't be more important than her own offspring. Was he missing some important piece of the puzzle that was Nodoka?

“You can really do that?” Ranma asked, looking up at him with renewed awe.

“I can try. But... only if you promise to always do your best at training, never give up, and remember that a martial artist's life is fraught with peril,” he said, putting on a more serious tone. “And, you'll have to call me sensei.”

“I promise, I promise!” Ranma said, jumping up and down excitedly, before his mood abruptly turned sad once again. “Do you... do you think daddy will stop bein' mad at me an' lemme come home if I was a hero?”

“Oh sweetie...” Nodoka said, wrapping her boy in another hug as her tears started to flow once again.

“You know what, kid? I think you're onto something,” Genma said, feeling the need to cheer the boy up by giving him something else to focus on. He dropped his pack so he could retrieve a blank scroll and ink pen.

“What are you doing?” Nodoka asked.

“Making it official,” Genma replied, pausing briefly to give her a sly wink, as he scrawled a rudimentary contract onto the parchment. “There we go. I, Saotome Genma, master of the Saotome branch of the Anything Goes School of martial arts do hereby swear on the honor of my ancestors that Ranma, under my tutelage, will be transformed into the greatest martial artist of his generation and will be returned home upon fulfillment of this contract on the condition that his father accept him back and apologize for hurting his feelings. Come here, Ranma. Just sign your name right under mine and your mom will make sure your dad gets this contract so he'll know the plan.”

Ranma gave his mother an uncertain look before she nodded. He approached, took the pen, and scrawled his name where it was supposed to go before smiling tentatively up at his new sensei.

Genma gave Ranma's hair an experimental tousle and found himself strangely pleased that the kid hadn't flinched away. “Atta boy,” he said.

Standing up to his full height, Genma rolled the parchment up and tied it off with a string before beckoning the mother of his child to come take the contract out of his hands. When she got close enough, he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Is there anything you're not telling me?”

“I can't... it's not safe and there isn't nearly enough time,” she whispered back. “When you get far away from here, look inside Ranma's backpack. Take care of our boy, Genma,” she added before stepping back.

Genma barely had time to mull over her cryptic statement while she leaned in to give their son one more hug and some quiet last words of encouragement before retreating back into the compound with the gate closing behind her.


	2. Foundation 1.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newly united father and son arrive at a certain dojo in Nerima. The mystery of Nodoka deepens.

Foundation 1.2

The three-hundred and sixty kilometer trip from Nodoka's place in Sendai down to Nerima, where Genma was renting a room from his old friend and training partner, had taken just over three hours by bus; a method of transportation he wouldn't normally have shelled out money for if not for the fact that missing even a single meeting with his case worker would've caused a parole officer to be notified. He couldn't have any more bad marks added to his file for the entire remainder of his punishment without risking them paying more attention to him, finding out he had custody of the boy, and potentially taking him away. That also meant having perfect attendance at all of his community service assignments was going to be necessary.

Basically, the next ten months were gonna be an even bigger pain in the ass for him.

On top of trying to juggle those things with his full-time job as a dishwasher, it was practically a given that he was going to be too exhausted to start training the boy the way he actually wanted. He would probably ask Soun to take the boy under his wing to get him up to speed on the basics while he finished up his legal obligations. However, being married to Keiko had made the man a bit too soft in his opinion which would likely mean Ranma would still be somewhat behind. Maybe he'd just have to suck it up and use his one day off per week to supplement the boy's progress instead of resting.

_'Adulting is such a drag,'_ he thought, running a hand through his shaggy hair and coming away with several loose strands. _'Oh, come on! Not this again!'_

That was why he hated most long trips where he was forced to stay seated. They always gave him too much time to think and overthinking just stressed him out to the point of making his hair fall out faster.

“Sensei, my feet hurt,” Ranma said, tugging the man's hand as it dropped back down to his side. “Are we there yet?”

Genma rolled his eyes and sighed. The Tendo dojo was just about a thirty minute walk from the bus depot and they'd only been walking for ten. Kid was in for one hell of a rude awakening once his first lessons in the art began.

“Tell me something, Ranma. What do you usually do when you're at home?”

“Um... I watch Sentai cartoons an' sometimes the news so I can see the real Sentai. Amuray is my favorite. Did ya know he chose his name from the pilot in the old Gundam cartoon by cuttin' out a syllable an' mashin' it together? Cool, right!”

“Very,” Genma replied, faking sincerity while suppressing a groan. His son was turning out to be more of a cape nerd than he'd expected or was comfortable with. “But, you know what's cooler?”

“What?” the boy asked, before yelping slightly as Genma scooped him up into a piggy back.

“ _This_ ,” Genma said, leaping onto a nearby wall and using it to propel them onto a rooftop. He sprinted into another leap that took them soaring over the road gap. “Welcome to my world, kid."

It was a residential neighborhood with most houses being two stories or less but it still got a big reaction. A terrified scream morphed into joy filled laughter as soon as his son figured out Genma was holding him securely in place.

“We're flyin'!” Ranma shouted as they reached the apex. As soon as they started descending, though, the scream was back.

Genma laughed to himself a little before power sprinting into another leap as soon his slippered feet had purchase.

“Weeeee!” Ranma yelled, regaining his cheer.

“You ready for a flip?” Genma asked, talking just loud enough to hear himself over the whistle of wind.

“What? Noooooo!” Ranma replied, too late. Genma performed a simple front flip across a smaller gap of adjacent houses as the boy's little hands scrunched the collar of his gi.

“How do you feel, boy?” he asked, after landing, not bothering to slow down.

“That was scary!”

“You're not feeling sick or dizzy, though, are you?” Genma added, taking the next jump without any fancy moves.

“No, but can ya please not do that again?”

That was a good sign. It meant the boy had a strong inner ear and good equilibrium. His lack of stamina and general wussiness was kind of annoying but a naturally good trait like that meant he had real potential for the Saotome School's specialty. Genma let himself bask in the pride that came along with knowing his son was well suited to carry on his legacy.

Five minutes on the rooftop expressway was all it took to make it within visual range of the dojo. With a final push, Genma surged over the last few houses and cleared the high wall surrounding the large Tendo property with a flashy flip/twist combo that made his boy scream again.

He landed on the grass in the open space between the wall and the dojo where Keiko happened to be hanging a dirty rug on the clothes line. The woman in the plain brown housework yukata and black apron jumped in a moment of startlement simultaneously backpedaling into a bucket of soapy water, knocking it over as she tripped, and fell onto her back in the newly created puddle.

"Genma! What have I said about using the front door?" Keiko growled, glaring up at him before doing a double take at the boy who was still sitting on his shoulders. "Oh! Is that your-"

"My new apprentice, yes," he said, cutting her off as quickly as he could. She looked askance at his blatant deflection and he silently mouthed the words "he doesn't know yet" to ameliorate. "Ranma, this is Keiko. Keiko, this is Ranma."

"Hi," the little boy said, lifting a hand off Genma's shoulder to wave at the woman.

"Heya, kiddo," she replied, seeming to accept his explanation easily enough and putting on a friendly face. A sour expression returned to her delicate features soon after, though. "Ugh... my entire backside is soggy."

"Yeah... really sorry about that," he said, putting on his best apologetic tone as he offered her a hand up. She took it and allowed herself to be hoisted back onto her feet.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll get my revenge eventually," she replied, in a tone of casual indifference that contradicted her predatory grin.

A chill went up Genma's spine.

There were some things Keiko was known for other than being a near perfect model of a traditional housewife and mother. One of her quirks, for instance, was that she could be as vindictive as she was sweet. She'd get him back, alright. It would probably be long after he'd forgotten about it, too.

"Anyway, I guess I'll go clean myself up," she said before performing an about face and stepping carefully around the wet ground. "Soun is giving the girls lessons in the dojo, if you were wondering," she added from over her shoulder.

"Oh, uh, thanks," he replied, relieved to see her retreat toward the house. He pulled Ranma off of his shoulders and set him down onto his own feet. "Let's go, boy. It's time to meet the other half of the Anything Goes school."

Genma led his son up onto the engawa so they could access the dojo's sliding doors. He could already hear the childish grunts and high pitched yells of kids presumably either sparring or practicing kiai with their kata. Ranma grabbed onto the bottom of his gi and hid behind his leg in a seemingly nervous apprehension. Sighing again at his son's embarrassing level of softness, he reached behind to gently but firmly take the boy's shoulder and move him forward.

Ranma looked up at him in protest and Genma shook his head. "If you ever want to be a Sentai, then you'd better start showing a little backbone, kid. You think what's his name would get nervous walking into a dojo for the first time?"

"It's Amuray..." the boy muttered under his breath almost too low for Genma to hear.

"Well?" Genma asked, letting that one slide. "Would he?"

"No..."

"Didn't think so!" Genma said, injecting a bit more liveliness into his voice.

With maybe a bit too much enthusiasm, he flung the door open and was promptly hit in the face by a flying block of wood.

"Argh! Stupid wood! Why won't you ever break for me?" little Akane yelled, with tears rolling down her face, as she aimlessly flung more pieces from her stack - clearly lost in a fugue.

Genma watched as the young girl's two older sisters, clad in matching white gi, dodged the blunt projectiles with a respectable amount of skill for their ages. Soun, however, took several direct hits as he got in close to try and calm her down.

"Akane... honey... baby girl... please calm down," Soun pleaded as he got within arms reach.

She broke down as soon as he wrapped her in a hug. "Daddy!" she wailed, shoving her face into the man's dark brown gi. "I'm the worst martial artist in the whole world! I can't even break a board!"

"That's not true, honey," Soun said, gently rubbing her back.

"B-But... Kasumi and N-Nabiki can do it! I should be able too!"

"You've only been at this for a few months, baby girl," Soun said in a calm, matter-of-fact, tone. "Your sisters have a lot more practice under their belts. Even _I_ had to start small and work my way up. You'll get better with more time and patience, I promise."

As Soun continued to console his youngest, the two slightly older girls sauntered over to the entrance to join Genma and his son. They were probably as relieved as he was for the tantrum to be over with.

Nabiki, the most inquisitive of Soun's daughters, approached with interest plainly visible on her face, contrasting Kasumi's reserved intrigue, and was the first to speak. "Hi, Uncle Saotome. Who's that?" she asked, indicating Ranma with a pointed finger.

"This," Genma replied, gently nudging his son forward, "is Ranma, my student. Ranma, these young ladies are my friend's oldest daughters, Kasumi and Nabiki. He's going to be staying with us for the time being so I hope you'll be kind enough to show him the ropes."

The middle Tendo raised her eyebrows in excitement. She had the look of a cat that had just found a new toy to pounce on. Without a moment's hesitation, she lunged forward to grab Ranma by the wrist and drag him back out onto the engawa. "Come on, Kasumi!" she called over her shoulder. "Let's give him the grand tour!"

Kasumi lingered long enough to look up at Genma with something between embarrassment and excitement as if she were seeking his permission or something. "Go on, then," he said, prompting her to dart off behind them.

The three kids were out of sight in moments.

Genma strolled further into the dojo as Akane was wiping her eyes and nodding at some whispered words from her father.

Soun acknowledged him with a glance and then gave Akane's short hair a ruffle before speaking loud enough to be heard. "We're done for the day, anyway, so why don't you go find your sisters and introduce yourself to that nice boy, okay?"

"Okay," Akane said, finally putting on a smile. "Hi, Uncle!" she added, as she jogged by on her way out.

"Hi, Akane," Genma replied, casually.

Soun stood up to his full height as he approached. "So, how'd it go?"

"Not well, I'm afraid," Genma replied, pulling out the unsigned envelope Nodoka had left for him inside of Ranma's backpack.

When she'd told him where to look, he'd expected to find some sort of explanation to justify her paranoid and erratic behavior. A tape recording, a letter, or perhaps even a diary were what came to mind then. What he got instead was three wallet sized photos of her holding an infant Ranma, the kind that came printed off in strip form from a photo booth one might find in a shopping mall, that were wrapped neatly in a sheet of paper folded over in three sections – just like a letter would be. However, the paper was totally blank. He had to show someone else just to be sure he wasn't losing his mind.

Genma brought his friend up to speed before opening the envelope and withdrawing the contents.

"And this is all I got," he said, handing it over.

Soun slid the photo strip out with one hand and unfolded the paper with his other. He must have noticed something Genma hadn't because he immediately squinted at the paper as he drew it so close to his face that his nose nearly touched it. Abruptly, his eyes went wide. "Saotome, your ex is either really crazy or really clever."

"Huh?" was Genma's eloquent reply.

"She wrote this letter with invisible ink," Soun elaborated. "I can see the indentations on the paper. I'm willing to bet she included the photos as a clue. We just need to get it under an ultraviolet light to read it."

"Okay, Sherlock, since when did you get all uppity and start knowing this kind of weird shit? And where are we supposed to find this fancy purple light?"

"Where have you been, man? Keiko does photography in her spare time. She's even got a dark room setup in the attic. Get with the program. Besides, if I didn't pay at least a little attention to my wife's hobbies, I'd be a shitty husband."

_'So that's where she's always disappearing to,'_ Genma thought, finally connecting the dots. He had to admit that the guy made a good point. He wasn't about to say it out loud, though. "Whatever, let's just go get this over with."


End file.
